Colony One
Colony One, formerly known as Fort Gorges before the Pathogen Period, was the first recorded survivor colony to be established on the East Coast of the former United States. Built deep under the ruins of the Civil War fort known as Fort Gorges, Colony One boasts a decent amount of firepower and a heavy influence over Coastal New England, rival only to Colony Two. It's near impenetrable location makes it one of the most strategic and well-defended human settlements in Post-Pathogen America. It has become a bustling port of trade over time and frequently delivers and receives goods from Colonies Two and Four. As of last estimate, in 2039, it's population was 1,492. Background After the release of the Pathogen in October of 2016, a small group of Iraq War veterans based in Portland, Maine banded together and sailed out to Fort Gorges, in Portland Harbor. Their goal was to keep each other alive and well while the disease spread across the once great nation. Accompanying them was nearly four months worth of non-perishable foods, weapons, ammunition, water, clothing and bedding. In early 2017, a group of survivors sailed out from Portland, having survived the immediate aftermath of the Pandemic. They had seen fires burning on the island that housed Fort Gorges and hoped to make contact with other survivors. Upon washing up on the shores, they were threatened by the veterans residing there, but eventually they were found to be in good health and were allowed to stay, seeing as they brought food and more supplies with them. By late 2017, the population of the colony had flourished to around 750. By 2019, the population stood at 1,150. Fishing became a large source of food here, seeing as the survivors rarely ventured to the abandoned city of Portland to the west. Eventually, soldiers from the colony (trained to fight by the original veterans) ventured outward from the settlement to seek more survivors on the mainland. They journeyed as far south as Boston, Massachusetts, where they found an equally large settlement built under the ruins of Bunker Hill, in northern Boston. Realizing that other colonies could exist like theirs, the residents and governing council of Fort Gorges decided to rename their settlement as Colony One, where the Bunker Hill settlement adopted Colony Two based on their later founding date. Growth & Rebellion On May 20th, 2022, Colony One reached its peak survivor population of 1,799. Finding the tunnels and bunkers of the Fort to be overcrowded, the governing council decided to ban all births for the next four years to prevent resources from dwindling too quickly. As the fishing industry in Colony One grew substantially, and more and more fishing trawlers were being salvaged from the docks of Portland, food was flowing into the colony at a rapid pace, and the economy of the settlement grew twice as fast as it had previously done. Rivaling Colony Two in economic power, the two settlements agreed on a trade deal, with Colony Two delivering raw materials and technological goods from the ruins of Boston and Colony One sending fish and clothing to assist the excessively crowded settlement to the south. Finding a National Guard Armory outside of Portland International Jetport, Colony One stocked up on weapons and ammunition, enough to survive through a small war if possible. No Runners were ever encountered during the expeditions from the Colony to the Mainland, seeing as their territories were further south and west where the United States' former population wasn't as densely packed together. On November 9, 2022, winter was settling in slowly in southern Maine, and a small group of radical survivalists saw the anti-birthing law as an "abomination against humanity." In the middle of the night on November 10, three of them stole weapons from the Colony's armory and went on a shooting rampage in the governing council's chambers the next morning. Six of the eight council members were killed along with four other civilians, the armed rebels were all shot dead. Seeing the survivalists' cause as somewhat true, many other residents of Colony One took to planning a takeover of the colony's government. Sensing an uprising to be imminent, the Colonial government raided the rooms that the rebellion were using to plan attacks and seized any and all weapons found. A public rally was held with the leading council member in the courtyard of the Fort the following day. The birthing law was lifted and in the following months, ironically, nearly 200 residents died of a waterborne disease, dropping the population to around 1,400. As of 2024, the Colony was booming in economic and population growth, and had a military numbering 250 soldiers with hundreds of armaments and large amounts of firepower. The governing council was abolished in early 2035 and replaced with an electable leader, the first being Alexander Riveton. Photos Category:Survivor Colonies